Garment waistbands



Dec. 3, 1968 c. s. SHERRIFF 3,413,657

GARMENT WAISTBANDS Filed Sept. 16, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 a 7 9 T 2 21 c211 ,6 ml

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A llorneys United States Patent 3,413,657 GARMENT WAISTBANDS Cecil Stanley Sherrilf, Bishopbriggs, Scotland, assignor to D. & H. Cohen Limited, Glasgow, Scotland, Great Britain Filed Sept. 16, 1966, Ser. No. 580,011 7 Claims. (Cl. 2-221) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A garment waistband has a main tunnel-formation with a secondary or auxiliary tunnel-formation therein, one longitudinal side of the auxiliary tunnel being attached to the corresponding side of the main tunnel whilst the other longitudinal side of the auxiliary tunnel is free. A resiliently extensible belt is located within the auxiliary tunnel and one end of the belt is anchored towards one end thereof. Fastening means are provided to connect the other end of the belt to the anchored end of the belt.

This invention relates to waistbands for garments such as trousers, long or short, and skirts, whether for men, women or children.

Most of the arrangements hitherto utilised for supporting such garments have involved for example the use of front buckles, or extensible tongues at the side, and often a series of buttons or the like. These arrangements normally involve protuberances on the waistband and when tightening adjustment is effected they commonly involve vertical puckering or rucking of the fabric. Moreover after some degree of wear frequently there is evidence of horizontal ridging or rucking.

According to the present invention there is provided a garment waistband having an elongated auxiliary tunnelformation on the inside of the waistband, one longitudinal edge of said tunnel being attached to the waistband whilst the other longitudinal edge is free from the waistband and having a resiliently extensible belt within the tunnel, said belt being anchored towards one end of the tunnel and at the other being provided with belt fastening means.

Preferably the base of the tunnel is attached to or near to the lower edge of the waistband and the roof of the tunnel is free from the waistband.

The belt fastening means preferably comprises a tongue at the end of the belt provided with fastening members spaced apart thereon enabling the length of the belt to be adjusted to give a first or coarse adjustment of the waistband.

The belt may be resiliently extensible at spaced zones, said spaced zones providing a resilient grip of the waist between the tolerances of said coarse adjustment.

The tongue of the belt effects securing by co-operation with the inside of a waistband extension which is provided internally with elastic material having a degree of lateral stiffness and extends between two permanently positioned attachment means, for example hooks, so that during wear of the garment the extension is slightly tensioned against the said elastic material so as to discourage the formation of rucks therein.

The belt while being flexible preferably has a degree of lateral stiffness in order to discourage the formation of longitudinal puckers during wear.

The term degree of lateral stiffness means that while the belt is able to be stretched longitudinally it is substantially non-resilient laterally, i.e., from top to bottom.

As a result of the invention a self-supporting garment may be provided having a waistband which has substantially no visible Bucking, the means for supporting the garment during wear being wholly or substantially wholly 3,413,657 Patented Dec. 3, 1968 hidden from view. Moreover it may be possible substantially to avoid any longitudinal creasing at the Waistband, and the garment may enable adjustment of the waistband length without displaying externally the means for adjustment, the garment thus having an enhanced, smooth or clean appearance around the waist. Any puckering which might occur will moreover show in the fabric of the tunnel and not the waistband.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows an inside view of the left hand side of a waistband of a pair of mens trousers with the waistband opened out to show the structure of the interior of the waistband.

FIG. 2 shows an'inside view of the left hand side of the waistband of FIG. 1 in sewn up position ready to be worn.

FIG. 3 shows an outside view of the right hand side of the waistband.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of part of the waistband of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 showing the left hand side of the waistband joined to the right hand side;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the Waistband through the line AA in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a view of the waistband belt showing the zones of elasticity on the belt.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a modification of the waistband construction of FIGS. 1 to 4.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of part of the waistband of FIGS. 7 and 8 showing the left hand side of the waistband joined to the right hand side.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 6 of the drawings, the waistband 1 of a pair of mens trousers is formed with an internal fabric tunnel 2 which extends more or less completely round the waistband 1. The base of the tunnel 2 is attached to the lower edge or seam 25 of the waistband 1 and the roof of the tunnel 2 is free from the waistband 1. An elongated tunnel belt in the form of a strip 3 which may be, for example, about three-quarters of an inch in height is enclosed in the tunnel 2. One end of said strip 3 say the left-hand end, may be anchored by stitching 4 to the tunnel, and the other end has attached thereto a fabric tongue 5 which protrudes from the end of the tunnel 2.

At the other end (the left-hand) of the waistband 1, there is a fabric extension piece 6 having therein a piece of elastic strip 7, for example about one inch in height, which is secured in place by two metal clips 8, 9 secured to the fabric, these clips 8, 9 presenting hooks or catches 10, 11 on the inner face of the extension piece 6. The front of the extension piece 6 is formed of fabric as a continuation of the waistband 1 and extends for, say, three inches, in order to overlap the other (right) side of the waistband and to enable clip 10 to effect securing engagement selectively with any of three co-operating eyes 12, 13, 14 on the end of the belt tongue 5.

The strip 7 inside the said extension piece 6 continues right to the tip of the extension, but it is originally assembled under slight tension for the reason hereinafter explained; and said elastic strip 7 extends in the direction remote from the tip so as to overlap the end of the tunnel strip 3 on the outside thereof.

The tunnel strip 3 extends as aforesaid right round the waistband 1, and is provided with five short elastic zones at intervals spaced more or less equidistantly around the waist (see FIG. 6). This may be achieved by using a strip of elastic 3 and overstitching a continuous length 15 of non-extensible fabric on one face thereof, leaving loops 16 at spaced intervals, thereby to allow the elasticity of the strip 3 to be effective only at these loops, and thus form spaced zones of elasticity within the limits of such loops 16.

A further but fixed eye 17 (see FIGS. 3-4) is provided on the outside of the waistband 1 to co-operate with the clip 11 at the end of the waistband extension 6.

In operation (see FIG. 4), the tunnel belt 3 is pulled into a comfortable position at which any one of the three eyes 12, 13, 14 on its tongue 5 is selected to engage the inner clip on the extension 6, and the end clip 11 on the extension 6 engages the fixed eye 17 on the waistband. The tautening of belt 3 results in a tensioning force being borne by the attachment point 4 and this tensioning force is distributed via point 4 along the seam 25. The tension in seam 25 serves to retain the trousers in position. The fabric of the main tunnel 1 is substantially free from stress and consequently no pnckering shall normally occur therein. 'lhe elastic zones, provided by the loops 16, in the belt 3 gives fine adjustment of the waistband 1 automatically so as to seat snugly on the users waist. Moreover, as there is a degree of tension in the elastic in the extension 6, the latter tends to remain in a reasonably taut condition. If it is desired to adjust the length of the waistband 1, then one of the other eyes on the tongue 5 is utilized, and again the resilience in the tunnel strip or belt 3 automatically adjusts itself.

As aforesaid, the tunnel strip or belt 3 may have any smaller or greater number of zones of elasticity 16, or may even be in the form of a substantially wholly elastic strip.

A strip of stiffening material may be provided along the entire length of the waistband interior.

Owing to the use of zones of elasticity, any pnckering or rucking tendency caused by applying the trousers to different sizes of waist of user tends to be spread more or less evenly around the waistband so that substantially no pnckering will normally be evident to an observer. Any pnckering which does occur will moreover show in the fabric of the tunnel 2 and not the waistband owing to the roof of the tunnel being free from the waistband so that the tensioning of the belt 3 is passed solely through seam 25. Moreover the degree of lateral stiffness in the elastic strip tends to inhibit horizontal pnckering, while owing to the built-in elastic part on the waistband extension, the tendency for such extensions to become corrugated or to pucker horizontally is mitigated or obviated.

The arrangement provides a method of waist adjustment which is virtually wholly enclosed so as to give a smooth and uniform external appearance. Moreover, the arrangement is completely self-supporting.

The various parts may, of course, be made of any convenient material whether fabric, plastic or otherwise, and any convenient means of attachment between the parts may be utilized as also any convenient means of fastening the waistband parts together for securing on the waist of the user. Moreover various ways may be utilized for causing the belt to be elastic at intervals, for example by insertion of extensible parts in a non-resilient belt. The normal type of elastic as used for clothing has been found to be suitable as it has as aforesaid a certain degree of lateral stiffness while being longitudinally extensible.

The tunnel may be provided at any convenient part or parts of the waistband, and there may be more than one tunnel. Moreover, there need not necessarily be an extension piece on the waistband.

A modification of the waistband of FIGS. 1 to 4 is depicted in FIGS. 7 to 9. The tongue 5 has at its extremity a button hole 27 into which is fastened one of two buttons 18, 19 located on the inside of the left hand end of the waistband.

A piece of non-extensible fabric 20, such as tape, is inserted into the waistband extension before the hooks 10, 11 are pressed home through the underside of the extension 6 and elastic strip 7. The free end of tape 20 is sewn into the end of belt 3 at position 21. FIG. 7 shows the waistband opened out for the sake of clarity, the tape 20 being folded over through 180 and the upper end of tape 20 being stitched to elastic strip 7 at 7A. For final assembly the upper part is folded down over the lower part so that the fold in tape 20 is unfolded, and the lefthand end of elastic strip 7 is tucked in behind, that is outside of, the tunnel 2 (see FIG. 9). The parts are then stitched together along the edges. The length of tape 20 is such that it is in a slightly relaxed condition when it is sewn to the belt at position 21. The elastic strip 7 is left loose inside the waistband and extends almost to the side seam of the trouser. Two eyes 22, 23 on the outside of the right hand end of the waistband are engaged by the hooks 10, 11 respectively.

In operation of the modified belt (see FIG. 8), the tunnel belt 3 is pulled into a comfortable position at which any one of buttons 18, 19 is inserted through button hole 27. The clip 10 is inserted in eye 22, and the extension 6 pulled to permit the clip 11 to be inserted in the eye 23, the strip 7 between the clips 8, 9 being consequently tensioned in the operation to mitigate against any pnckering in the waistband extension 6.

Again, tensioning occurs along the seam 25 of the trousers, and this tensioning in the seam 25 serves to retain the trousers in position. Since the main tunnel 1 will be substantially free from stress, no pnckering shall normally be evident therein.

The above modification provides a belt which starts at the extreme left hand end of the waistband and goes completely around the waistband emerging at the right hand end of the waistband. The arrangement can be likened to the application of an elastic bandage around the wearers waist. One end of the waistband is held whilst the belt is pulled around the body to underlap said held end. The belt is then fastened. Thus is provided a waistband which grips all round the body no matter how much the body moves and which stays snug, comfortable and effective at all times. Moreover the attainment of a smooth or clean" waistband extension is enhanced by the modification.

I claim:

1. A garment waistband including a main tunnel-formation, an auxiliary tunnel formation within said main tunnel formation and being attached to the main tunnel-formation along a line while the remaining portions of said auxiliary tunnel-formation remain free, a resiliently extensible belt loosely positioned within the auxiliary tunnelformation having one end thereof anchored towards one end of the auxiliary tunnel-formation, and fastening means for connecting the other end of said belt to the anchored end of the belt.

2. The waistband according to claim 1, wherein the foot of the auxiliary tunnel-formation is attached to the foot of the main tunnel-formation.

3. The waistband according to claim 2, wherein the belt fastening means comprises a tongue at said other end of the belt provided with fastening members spaced apart thereon to enable the length of the belt to be adjusted to give a first coarse adjustment of the waistband, and receiving means for the fastening members on the main tunnel-formation at the anchored end of the belt.

4. The waistband according to claim 2, wherein the belt has sections non-extensible in a longitudinal direction and adjacent sections resiliently extensible in a longitudinal direction, so that there is provided a resilient grip of the waist between the tolerances of said coarse adjustment.

5. The waistband according to claim 4, wherein the waistband is provided with an extension extending from its end thereof corresponding to the anchored end of the auxiliary tunnel-formation, the extension being provided 5 wear of the garment the extension is slightly tensioned against the stiffening material to discourage the formation of a ruck therein.

6. The waistband according to claim 5, wherein a link of material connects the anchored end of the belt to the 5 waistband extension.

7. The waistband according to claim 6, wherein the belt is arranged such that while being flexible and stretchable in a longitudinal direction it has a degree of resistance to bending in a lateral direction in order to discourage the formation of longitudinal puckers during wear.

6 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 720,468 2/ 1903 Ormsbee 2221 1,831,451 11/1931 Jackson 2237 FOREIGN PATENTS 949,384 2/ 1964 Great Britain.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

10 H. H. HUNTER, Assistant Examiner. 

